Memorial held for slain professor remembered as father figure’

A biology department chairman gunned down at a faculty meeting was remembered Thursday as a father figure who cared deeply about his students, the kind of professor who kept his office door open in case they needed to talk about personal problems. Mourners hugged and cried Thursday at a memorial service for Gopi K....

The Patriot Ledger, Quincy, MA

Writer

Posted Feb. 19, 2010 at 12:01 AM
Updated Feb 19, 2010 at 7:12 PM

Posted Feb. 19, 2010 at 12:01 AM
Updated Feb 19, 2010 at 7:12 PM

HUNTSVILLE, Ala.

» Social News

A biology department chairman gunned down at a faculty meeting was remembered Thursday as a father figure who cared deeply about his students, the kind of professor who kept his office door open in case they needed to talk about personal problems.

Mourners hugged and cried Thursday at a memorial service for Gopi K. Podila, 52, slain last week at the University of Alabama in Huntsville along with two colleagues.

A campus memorial service will be held tonight, and services for slain biology professors Adriel Johnson and Maria Ragland Davis are set for today and Saturday.

Professor Amy Bishop remains jailed, accused of killing them and wounding three others. Police have not released a motive, but colleagues say she was unhappy about being denied tenure. Podila, however, had supported her tenure application.

Students said he supported them, too. Former student Joy Agee recalled that he helped her overcome her anxiety about a speech to a community group by showing up in the audience.

“He told me if I got nervous during the speech to just look at him and just talk to him,” she said.

At Thursday’s memorial, a long line of mourners moved slowly from the funeral home lobby, down a hallway and before an open casket in the sanctuary. A private service was to be held later.

More than 100 people attended a service Thursday afternoon held by the Council on African-American Faculty, which Johnson organized at UAH in 2004 and Davis helped promote in recent years. The two were among seven black faculty members at the school at the time, a number that had grown to 14 prior to their deaths. Overall, the school has 340 full-time faculty members.

“We have not only lost two founding members of our group, but we have also lost two of our biggest advocates,” said Sonja Brown-Givens, the council’s current president.

Professor Frank Leahy and staff assistant Stephanie Monticciolo remained hospitalized in critical condition Thursday. Another faculty member, Luis Cruz-Vera, was shot in the chest and has been released.

The shooting decimated the biology department – of 14 members, six were killed or wounded, one is jailed, and the rest are dealing with the shock and loss of colleagues.